 Spillover Effects of International Standards: Working Conditions in the Vietnamese SMEsWorld Development, 2017, vol. 97, issue C, 79-101 Abstract: Private international standards are commonly applied to improve market access and competitiveness. While most studies focus on trade effects and organizational outcomes, very few studies look at the effect of standards on employees. Using a three-year matched employer–employee panel dataset, this paper finds that the application of management standards improves working conditions in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Certified firms pay higher wages on average, implying that the adoption of standards could boost labor productivity. They are also more likely to offer formal contracts, illustrating that benefits from standards also have non-monetary aspects. These effects come from higher investment in employee training, adherence to national labor laws, and engagement of non-technical workforce. There is, however, no systematic impact of standards on the provision of fringe benefits, such as paid sick leave and health, social, unemployment, and accident insurance. The estimation accounts for endogenous matching of workers with firms and unobserved heterogeneity using an instrumental variable approach. The study reveals unexpected benefits from certification. Keywords: standards; working conditions; certification; SMEs; Vietnam (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:97:y:2017:i:c:p:79-101 DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.03.040 Access Statistics for this article World Development is currently edited by O. T. Coomes More articles in World Development from Elsevier |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.